Why Leave Sweden for America Today?

Migration scholars often divide the underlying emigration causes into a
combination of “push” and/or “pull” factors. “Push” is defined as various kinds
of hardships – such as religious, ethnic, political, or economic persecution by
a ruling class in the emigrant’s native country, or as a condition of extreme
poverty or even starvation. “Pull” is primarily defined as an economic
attraction: in a situation characterized by scant employment or financial
opportunity (sometimes expressed as an inability to advance due to a rigid class
structure), there is the promise of a better standard of living in the new
country. Then, as an emigration movement develops, additional “pull” factors
come into play. Ethnic enclaves in the new country become magnets that attract
others belonging to that group, and members of divided families seek to
re-connect with each other. Additional, and more recent, factors such as
climate, livability, and “community values” also belong to the “pull” category,
even if attractions like “community values” can be elusive and difficult to
quantify.

The historical “push” causes can certainly be found behind most of the great
migration of Swedes to the New World between 1840 and 1925. But in the second
half of the 20th century they are not forces of the same magnitude, even though
the economic “pull” of the United States still clearly is a determining factor
for some emigrants, especially in certain professions. In the post-World War II
period, Sweden emerged as an increasingly wealthy nation where hunger, poverty
and social injustice had been mostly eliminated. Swedish citizens were offered a
free and decent education (including university studies), universal healthcare,
decent working conditions including statutory vacations, maternity leave and
many other workers’ rights, and they had the opportunity to exercise a number of
personal freedoms. Almost all could find employment, and even if one could not,
there was a social safety net that fed, housed and clothed them.

If conditions in one’s homeland are good, it is only natural to ask why
people decide to emigrate. In a recent study commissioned by the organization
Svenskar i Världen, in which 1099 Swedish emigrants were interviewed, the
largest group claimed that it was “the culture and quality of life in the new
country [that] tempted [them].” Quite clearly a “pull” factor, and many Swedish
immigrants to the United States during the last thirty or forty years have
obviously been motivated by the economic pull. They are aware that their
profession (such as entrepreneurs, high tech engineers, doctors, lawyers and
researchers) pays better in the United States, taxes are lower, and this
translates into a higher “quality of life.” According to the same study, the
second biggest cause for emigration was “the high level of taxation / the tax
system in Sweden.” Obviously this can be defined as a “push” factor that appears
to be linked to ideological objections to the socialist policies of the Social
Democrats, who have dominated Swedish politics during the postwar period.
Finally, the third most common reason “was being offered a job abroad.” Some in
this last category might not have intended to settle in the United States
initially, but their working assignment gradually evolved into an emigration.
(Perhaps it was due to unfavorable work-related changes in Sweden while working
abroad, an appreciation of the quality of life in America, or a marriage to an
American.) For others the emigration might have been an escape from something,
or a desire for adventure (by those who found Sweden a bit too focused on
security, stability, and predictability). There may also be subtle and
unconscious reasons behind an emigration, such as fulfilling unrealized
emigration dreams of a parent who, for a number of reasons, never had the
opportunity to pursue it. It may seem a frivolous argument to claim that people
emigrate simply to live in a warmer and sunnier climate, but there are
indications that sun and warmth are at least part of the equation of where to
live, especially among retirees. Referring to the Modern Language Association
map again, we see that there are approximately 13,000 Swedish speakers in
California, and almost 5,000 in Florida. And Swedes do not exactly flock to
Alaska, where the latitude, seasons, climate, flora and fauna are very similar
to that of Sweden, suggesting that today’s Swedish immigrants to the United
States do not seek those particular familiar elements from home. (Today, there
are only about 300 Swedish speakers in Alaska.)

But the emigrant discussed above, the person (or family) who actively leaves
Sweden, whether “pushed or pulled,” might still not be typical of the majority
of the Swedes living in the United States today. A larger group is clearly made
up of individuals who fall in love with an American and simply “end up living”
in the United States. They are what could be called “tag-alongs.” H. Arnold
Barton claims that “after career opportunities the main motive for emigration
would appear to be quite simply love. Widespread travel and study abroad among
young people – together with the numerous [Swedish] au pair girls living in
American families – have created far broader international contacts than ever
before, often leading to romance and marriage. As the couple most typically
settles in the husband’s country, this has resulted in a considerable number of
Swedish-born wives of Americans living in the United States.” (As discussed
earlier, the statistics confirm that there is a female majority among Swedish
emigrants.) It should perhaps also be said that it is easier for a woman – both
financially and ideologically – to stay home as a fulltime mother in the Unites
States than in Sweden, if that is an important value to her.

In his analysis of the 1990 Census, David E. O’Connor states “that of the
53,676 Swedish-born Americans, the West claimed the highest number with 18,954
(35.3 percent).” Of the three Western states, Oregon ranked last after
California and Washington – but then it also has the smallest population of the
three (California has approx. 34 million, Washington 6 million, and Oregon 3.6
million inhabitants). Even though Oregon in many respects is a Janus-faced
culture both looking east, back toward Europe, and west, across the Pacific
toward Asia, it is a place where Swedes seem to feel at home. Some aspects of
the natural environment (snowy mountains, forests, rivers and a long coastline)
are reminiscent of that in Sweden, and it has four distinct seasons. It is also
an area where Swedes (and Scandinavians) have played a noticeable role in the
local history, and where certain Swedish traditions like Midsummer and St. Lucia
celebrations are still being observed. Oregon is also known to be (at least from
an American point of view) a relatively liberal and progressive state.